“A Christmas Story”

Rudolph put up a valiant fight, and so did the Grinch. Even little Ralphie Parker gave it his best shot. But in the end, no one had enough firepower to vanquish the all-powerful Peanuts gang.

That’s how our first Holiday TV Tournament went down. The voters have had their say: “A Charlie Brown Christmas” is the most beloved yuletide program of all time.

And, good grief, it wasn’t even close.

Thanks to all of you who voted and helped to make this a fun holiday project. Who knows? We might have a tournament next year to determine the top holoiday song of all time. Until then, you can check out the complete 32-program bracket by clicking here.

Apparently, the committee (me) who seeded our first-ever Holiday TV Tournament did a pretty decent job. All four of our top seeds — “A Charlie Brown Christmas,” “It’s a Wonderful Life,” “Rudolph the Red-nosed Reindeer,” and “A Christmas Story” — have advanced to the semifinal round.

And they did it with amazing ease. I thought Charlie Brown would get a tough battle from the Grinch — and he did for a while. But by the time all the votes were counted, Charlie vanquished the hairy green beast without breaking much of a sweat.

Next up for the Peanuts hero is Rudolph. This figures to be a snowball fight for the ages, so please get in there and vote. The other semifinal matchup pits two classic theatrical movies against each other — “It’s a Wonderful Life” and “A Christmas Story.” I have no idea how that one will go.

Final 4 voting will continue through 1 p.m. next Thursday, but get to the polls early and coax your friends to vote, too, by sharing our link. To vote, just click here.